By Joshua Olomu

The Embassy of South Korea in Nigeria has donated two Hyundai buses to the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), to boost its operations.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Lee In Tae, Ambassador of South Korea to Nigeria, handed the vehicles to Hameed Ali, Comptroller General of Customs, on Monday at NCS headquarters in Abuja.

According to the Ambassador, NCS as an agency of government needs the support and cooperation of all stakeholders for it to deliver more effectively on its mandate.

The Nigerian Custom Service is a great organisation, doing great job, and needs to be supported.

These two buses are being donated by our embassy to support its operational activities, Tae said.

The CG, in his response, commended the Ambassador for the kind gesture, saying, the NCS would make efficient use of the vehicles in its operations.

He said: We are grateful for this kind donation, and I assure you that they will be properly maintained.

The vehicles will sure boost our activities as an organisation in carrying out our functions and in securing our nations borders.

Ali, who received the keys to the two buses in company of his management team, said that NCS was ready to work with stakeholders. (NAN)

Source: NAN

At least 11 people, including five pupils, were on Tuesday killed by ongoing heavy rains in Tanzanias Eastern Region of Morogoro, a senior police official said.

The Morogoro Regional Commissioner, Wilbroad Mutafungwa, said the five pupils drowned in a flooded river while going home from school.

Mutafungwa told a news conference in the Morogoro municipality, situated 200 kilometres west of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam that four bodies of the pupils had been recovered.

The commissioner said that rescue teams were still searching for the fifth body of a nine-year pupil from the Nyachiro primary school.

He said the other six people were killed by flash floods in different parts of the region.

Earlier, Solomon Mwangamilo, in charge of Tanga Region Traffic Police, said the ongoing heavy rains had so far damaged roads and submerged bridges in some parts of the country.

Mwangamilo added that the highway connecting the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, and upcountry regions to the North, was temporarily closed on Saturday after a bridge was submerged in Coast region.

Tanzania Meteorological Authority said that the country would experience heavy rains that might cause floods leading to disease outbreaks in at least 13 administrative regions.(Xinhua/NAN)

Source: NAN

Sen. Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West at the Nigerian Senate, has lost his appeal on the tribunal judgment that sacked him as a senator two months ago.

It would be recalled that the Kogi State National Assembly/State Assembly election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja, nullified Melaye’s election in August.

Melaye was declared the winner of the Kogi West Senatorial election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the February 2019 general election.

The results declared by INEC showed that Melaye who contested the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 85,395 votes to defeat Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who polled 66,901 votes.

Adeyemi later approached the tribunal to challenge Melaye’s victory and was declared winner on Friday.

A three-man panel led by Justice A. O. Chijioke in a unanimous judgment accepted Adeyemi’s ground and ordered for reelection into the Kogi West senatorial district.

Displeased with the judgment of Justice Chijioke’s led tribunal, Senator Melaye approached the Appeal Court to appeal the ruling.

The Appeal Court eventually upheld the judgment of the tribunal and ordered a fresh election within 90 days.

By Sandra Umeh

As the World marks Day Against the Death Penalty, Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS) and Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) on Thursday drew attention to the negative impact of the death penalty on children.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oct.10, is slated as World Day Against the Death Penalty.

It is a day set aside every year to advocate the abolition of the death penalty and raise awareness on the conditions and the circumstances which affect prisoners on death sentence.

The day was first organised by the World Coalition against the Death Penalty in 2003.

To commemorate the day, two Human Rights Organisations, HURILAWS and LEDAP have drawn public consciousness to the effect of the penalty on children in the society.

In a statement jointly signed by Mr Collins Okeke and Mrs Pamela Okoroigwe, representing both organisations, they, among others, called on government to put in place modalities with focus on children.

In its 2018 global report on death sentences and executions, Amnesty International recorded that in Nigeria; at least 19,336 people were on death row.

Many of these people have children connected to them either as daughters, sons, nephews or nieces.

The death penalty does not only affect the person who is sentenced, as family members of the sentenced persons are also collateral victims.

HURILAWS and LEDAP call on the Federal and State legislators and executives in Nigeria to:

Put in place an official moratorium on the imposition of death sentence and the carrying out of executions on the parent of a child.

Conduct a child rights impact evaluation of the actual impact of the implementation of current legislation and policies in their state, related to the death penalty, to assess the impact on children of the parental death penalty, the organisations said.

The organisations said there should be consideration of all aspects of childrens rights in this evaluation, including the right to be free from inhuman treatment and the rights to health, education, and an adequate standard of living.

They suggested engagement in thorough communication with children to facilitate their meaningful participation in this process and to identify their best interests, using child-friendly procedural safeguards.

Develop transparent and objective processes for legislative decisions made concerning the death penalty to ensure full consideration and respect of the human rights of children.

Enact legislation that requires in law the detailed procedural steps for conducting a best interests of the child assessment as set out in the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

General comment on the best interests of the child and include a provision explicitly requiring that such an assessment be conducted before any sentencing decision is made that impacts a child.

Ensure that all the procedural requirements set out in this legislation are disseminated to both prosecutors and judges, they said. (NAN)

Source: NAN

By Emmanuel Afonne

The Governing Council of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has approved 15 new courses for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to give opportunities to Nigerians wishing to study in the institution.

Prof. Peter Okebukola, the Chairman, Governing Council, NOUN, said this in Abuja on Thursday while briefing newsmen.

He noted that three of the courses, International Relations, French as well as Development Studies, were approved for undergraduate programmes.

Okebukola explained that 12 of the programmes including Master of Law, Master of International Law and Diplomacy (MILD), Public Health, Economics and Mass Communication were approved for postgraduate programmes.

Others courses approved for postgraduate programmes were Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence and Management Information System.

Okebukola said: Council noted that University Senate has approved a whole range of new undergraduate and postgraduate academic programmes in order to provide more opportunities to thousands of Nigerians who would not have been able to study these programmes due to their individual circumstance.

According to him, six of the programmes that have to do with Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence and Management Information System will take place at the institutions World Bank funded Africa Centre for Excellence in Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL).

The NOUN Council Chairman also said that the institution was gradually achieving its target of one million enrolment going by its current enrolment of 550,000 students.

He commended the Managements of National Universities Commission (NUC) and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for their support and interventions in the university which led to the increase of students enrolment.

Council is happy to report that Government of Belarus has requested the permission of NOUN to hold an education fair in December 2019 due to importance of NOUN as a national nerve centre for educational dissemination and quality assurance.

Council also approved the recommendation of Senate for the appointment of Prof. Uduma Orji Uduma of the Department of Philosophy as the new Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).

We also noted the election of Congregation representatives to Council of Mrs Margaret Merari and Alhaji Isa Shehu for the period specified by law.

It is gratifying to note the increasing number of enrolment of women in NOUN; second semester registration indicated 58 per cent of those taking examination in NOUN are female.

This is commendable as it provides women with an opportunity for gaining world-class education at their place and their pace, Okebukola added.

Source: NAN

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday met behind closed doors with former President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the former president arrived the State House at about 3.00p.m, and went straight to the presidents office.

NAN reports that the agenda of the meeting between President Buhari and Jonathan was unknown to newsmen as at the time of filling this report.

NAN observed that the former president, whois visiting the Presidential Villa for the fifth time, was last seen in the State House in 2016.(NAN)

Source: NAN

By Uchediunor Augusta

A yet-to-be-identified young lady on Thursday escaped lynching by an irate mob over alleged snatching of manhood of three men in a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bus at Onipanu Bus Stop in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who monitored the incident, reports that the young lady escaped death as irate mob and BRT passengers pounced on her over the allegation.

An eye witness and passenger in the bus, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that a man suddenly raised the alarm that his manhood had disappeared immediately the young lady touched him in the bus.

She added that two other men standing close to the first man almost immediately raised the same alarm, after feeling their organs

The eyewitness added that the bus driver had to take all the occupants of the bus to Onipanu Police Station to report the incident

Speaking to NAN at the police station, an unidentified police officer, confirmed the incident and said that the police were on top of the situation.

NAN reports that the three affected men were taken to undisclosed hospital for confirmation of their claims. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said its intervention had assisted to save N4.5 billion monthly, lost to ghost workers on the federal governments payroll.

The monthly savings amounts to N54 billion on a yearly basis.

A statement by EFCC Spokesman, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, quoted the commissions Acting Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu, as saying this while delivering a lecture on Thursday at the National Defence College (NDC) in Abuja.

Magu spoke on the topic Corruption and Anti-corruption Strategies in Nigeria: Way Forward, at the Course 28 Study Programme of NDC with the theme: Economic Diversification and National Development.

He reiterated the commitment of the current administration to rid the country of corruption, adding that the involvement of the EFCC had helped in fighting corrupt practices.

Magu also commended the introduction of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) into salary payment, which he said had assisted to save such amount for the government.

The involvement of the EFCC in tackling the scourge of ghost workers in the civil service has led to a redemption of over N4.5 billion naira monthly.

The EFCC has been engaged in eradicating ghost workers from the federal governments payroll which has resulted in saving as much as N4.5 billion naira monthly.

The Bank Verification Number (BVN) has been an effective tool in carrying out investigations effectively, as it has curtailed the opening of fake bank accounts by fraudulent individuals.

The only gateway to development is through fighting corruption.

If Nigeria breaks away from corrupt practices in government businesses and in the private sector, we will transform into a model state overnight, he said.

The commissions acting chairman disclosed that the commission had secured up to 2,165 convictions over a period of 10 years between 2009 and 2019.

He added that 70 per cent of it was achieved between 2016 and September 2019 under his watch.

The EFCC boss called for more collaboration among security and law enforcement agencies through the National Anti -Corruption Strategy aimed to bring about coherence and synergy among security agencies in the country.

The Commandant of NDC, Rear Adm. Markson Kadiri, emphasised the need for proper utilisation of funds, urging participants to key into the corruption fight.

We all have a role to play to ensure that monies meant to be used for public good will be applied according to what and how they are meant to be utilised, he said.(NAN)

Source: NAN